MetaTrader (MT4) Tips and Tricks

Metatrader 4 (MT4) is one of the most widely used platforms for trading Forex, indices and commodities. Below are some tips and tricks that you might find helpful when using it either to trade or to perform analysis and research:

Do you want to find out the distance in pips between two points on a chart? First you need to switch the cursor to crosshair mode (from the ‘line studies’ toolbar, by pressing CTRL+F or clicking the mouse wheel). Now you’re able to see the price and time coordinates of every point on the chart. To measure the distance from point A to B, press and hold left-click on point A and drag the mouse to point B.

Need a helping hand when doing post trade analysis? Go to the ‘Account History’ section and select the trade you are interested in. Now drag and drop it onto the chart (any chart for that matter, as MT4 will automatically go to the right one). You’ll be able to see the entry and exit points of that particular trade clearly marked by two arrows united by a dotted trendline.

Want to navigate faster and easier through a chart? Use Page Up and Page Down keys to advance the entire screen forward or backward in time. Press End to move to the most recent price bar. If you look at historical prices for strategy testing or to learn how to ‘read’ the market, use F12 to advance the chart once price bar at a time.

To copy (with all the attributes, colour, thickness and so on) a line or any other object: highlight it (double click), then press and hold CTRL and drag the duplicate wherever you like. If you want to modify the length of a line, select it, hold Shift and then drag it left or right to change its length.

To switch time-frames when on full screen mode: press enter and then the code for the desired time-frame (for instance M15, H4, D).

Using the one-click trading tool makes it very easy not only to enter and exit trades, but to set and adjust stop loss and take profit levels. Simply press ALT+T and the interface will appear in the top left corner of the chart. Once a trade has been entered you can then apply a SL or TP by pressing left-click and dragging to the desired price. As a precautionary measure, to avoid accidentally moving your SLs and TPs when working with horizontal lines or trendlines, go to Options–>Charts and check the box ‘Use Alt key to drag trade levels’. This means that you’ll now need to hold Alt to adjust your SL or TP.

MT4 comes with many standard keyboard shortcuts and by using them you’ll gain three main benefits: save time by accessing faster the required tools, a clearer and less cluttered MT4 terminal, increased charting space.

To add other hotkeys (for instance to custom indicators, scripts or expert advisors) go to the Navigator Window (CTRL+N), open one of the three folders and right-click one of components (for instance Indicators->ATR). A pop-up menu will appear with the option to ‘set hotkey’.